“Unless of course … our little chat has been thought provoking?”
Oh, it had.
“Yes. Indeed it has been.” I finally met Jamie’s eyes and gave her a forced smile. Jamie’s smile widened as she nodded.
“Good.”
And without another word, she walked out of the office. Leaving me to myself.
I was pretty sure I’d just been threatened, but I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to do about it.
She’s brought a lot to the company. I couldn’t deny that, not even to myself. But there was no doubt in my mind that she’d just tried to intimidate or even bribe me. That wasn’t going to go over well with me. If she wants to give her two weeks’ notice then there is nothing I can do to stop her.
No. I knew that was wrong. My fingers drummed against the desk. If I left Mel, she would stay. Jamie would stay, and she’d bring even more clients over to me. To us.
Aron said he would meet me at the restaurant, which made the most sense since my classes went until 5:00, and he was thinking about heading back to the office after dinner anyways. My heart raced as I pulled into the parking lot and caught sight of my parents’ car. I didn’t see his around anywhere.
They watched as the car pulled into a parking space, but when their jaw dropped as I stepped out, I realized they hadn’t known it was me. They’d just been looking at the car.
My mom closed the distance between us and pulled me into a hug. “Mel, how are you doing?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
She looked past me at the car, then shifted her gaze to me. I felt my cheeks flush as she looked at my brand new purse. I was thankful I’d just gone with a pair of jeans and a sweater today.
“I thought you couldn’t afford a new car.”
“Aron lent me one of his.” I tried to brush it off, make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but I saw the look on my dad’s face.
“That’s a pretty nice car for him to be lending you.” Today it was the Jag.
I shrugged. “It was the best one for me, he felt.” I cleared my throat, looking around. He was nowhere to be seen. “Anyways, should we head inside? I’m sure Aron will be able to find us if we take a seat.”
My mother gave a stiff nod. As we headed into the restaurant, I saw his car turn onto the street. My heart skipped a beat as he pulled into a parking spot. Thank God. I’d been worried most of the day that he was going to bail on me, that was why I hadn’t told my parents if he was coming or not. That way, if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have to try to justify it to my parents.
“How’s school going?” my dad asked, bringing me back to reality.
“It’s good,” I said. “I had a test today; I’m pretty sure I passed.”
“You’re studying hard?”
“Yes,” I assured my father as we headed to our usual table at the back of the room. I glanced back as I heard the door open.
A grin spread over my face as I came to a stop. Aron headed over to us and pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapping around me tightly. I took a deep breath of him and forced myself to pull away.
I cleared my throat.
“Mom, Dad; this is Aron. Aron, this is Kate and Mike.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Aron extended his hand to my mother, they shook and then Aron extended his hand to my father. For a split second, I didn’t think Dad was going to shake Aron’s hand, then his hand reached out and grabbed Aron’s. My heart did a backflip as I silently thanked God.
“Let’s go get something to eat.” My mother gave a soft smile. “Mel said you were coming right from work; you must be hungry.”
“Very.” Aron grinned widely as we headed for the table and slid into our seats. Aron’s hand reached out and took mine for a fraction of a second, squeezing softly before he reached for the menu.
“So,” My dad cleared his throat. “We’ve got some news for you, Mel.”
Right. They’d wanted to talk about something. My heart skipped a beat. “What is it?”
My parents exchanged a look before my mother opened her mouth. “Well, your father and I have decided it’s time to move.” Wow. “We’ve been looking for a long time now, and we think it’s time we settle down somewhere warm. You know we’ve been talking about an early retirement for a long time, and we went to the bank. If we can get a good price for the house … it will do a lot to make that possible.”
“So you guys are selling the house?”
“Yes, we’re going to fix it up a little and list it. If we can get a good price for it, we can start looking for reasonable homes … out of state.”
My eyes widened. “Out of state?” Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised. They’d always talked about moving somewhere warm when they were done with work. It’s all happening now.
Was I really ready for this?
Aron cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to jump in, but I know a couple contractors that are wonderful to work with. I’d be happy to pass along their info to you.”
A smile touched my dad’s lips. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, they’ve worked wonders for me on a small budget. I can’t rave about them enough.”
Chapter Nineteen
“That wasn’t too bad,” I admitted as I stepped out of the car.
“You think?”
“Yea,” I mean, no one had fought, and it seemed like Dad actually liked Aron. That was a big deal. My parents seemed happy, and if Aron could help them with selling their house that would be even better. “It was better than any of my other boyfriends that they have met.”
Aron raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as we made our way up the steps. “Huh.” Was the best he gave me.
I stood there as he unlocked the door and let us in. We slipped out of our shoes, and I was glad I hadn’t put dinner in the slow cooker for us before I left. A yawn passed through my lips. “I think Mom liked you,” I said. It was probably a good thing that he wasn’t their age; although he wasn’t much younger than them, it would have been hard for them to wrap their head around the idea of him being their age.
“I’m glad you think so … Speaking of people ...” I raised an eyebrow and he looked away from me. “I ran into Jamie.”
I groaned. Was she going to be popping up every other day?
“What did she want?”
“She gave me an ultimatum. She said I’d lose all my clients from her if I didn’t date her.”
I stood there, staring at Aron. My heart did a backflip, or two. I wasn’t sure. I could feel the panic beginning to set in.
“She’s one of the major reasons I’ve done so well; I know that.” He turned away blowing out a deep breath.
I closed my eyes, waiting for it. I mean, it was coming, right? The break up.
No, I just introduced him to my parents! There was no way he was going to break up with me after that, was there? Would he actually do that to me?
“So, what did you tell her?” I forced myself to speak, realizing I still hadn’t said anything since he mentioned her.
As hard as I’d tried to sound calm and normal, I’d failed. I sounded scared and like I was about to cry. I knew that, and I knew he’d be able to hear it in my voice.
“I haven’t said anything, and I don’t plan to. If she would like to give her notice then that is her choice, not mine. I won’t fight with her on that, and if she thought I would, well, maybe it’s best we just go our separate ways.”
I couldn’t put into words how much better that made me feel. I took a deep breath and nodded. “Is that so?”
“Yes, I just hope she didn’t actually think she could intimidate me.” A smile touched his lips. “You must have scared her yesterday.”
I’ll admit it; that made me feel good.
“So, you’re just going to let her quit?”
“It’s not my choice to make if she leaves or not.” Aron shrugged, padding into the kitchen. I was thril
led to hear him say that. I followed him into the kitchen after dropping my work and school bag at the door and promising myself I’d get to it later.
“You … mean, you didn’t consider dating her? Even just for a second.”
“Not after she tried to manipulate me.”
My arms wrapped around him, pulling him close to me as I nuzzled into him. I wasn’t willing to say out loud how happy that made me, but I’d admit it to myself. Aron pulled away just enough for him to wrap his arms around me and pull me into a soft kiss.
“With your parents moving, we’ll get to do more traveling,” he whispered softly. “To go see them, I mean.”
“You’re going to come visit my family with me?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Only if you want me to.” His cheeks flushed.
“I’d love that,” I admitted. My lips touched his, his skin rough against mine as he pulled me closer for a fraction of a second, then pulled away. He looked me up and down. His eyes sparkled as his lips touched mine again, his hands tracing over the curves of my body, pausing over the shirt I was wearing. Despite the fact, it was a sweater, it had been something he bought me.
“I’m glad to see you wearing the clothes I bought you.”
“I think you’re the only one who is.”
Aron raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly. And it was nothing. “I just don’t think a lot of people are happy to see you buying stuff for me, that’s all.” It didn’t matter, though. We were the ones making this choice, not them. “I’m just glad to see you happy to see me wearing it, that’s all.” My lips touched his.
I pulled away from him and padded towards the coffeemaker, getting it ready for the next morning.
Aron joined me in prepping for the next day, starting on our lunches. I worked quickly to get the coffee ready, and then emptied our bags, washing the dishes that were in there as Aron filled other ones.
It didn’t take long for us to finish our tasks and to be carrying our lunch for the next morning over to our bags.
“Are you working tomorrow?” Aron asked.
“No. Just school.”
“That’s good. My client wants to bump the interview up to tomorrow.”
“I …”
My pulse raced. No. I wasn’t ready. But did I have a choice? Of course not.
“I guess I’d better go pick out something suitable for tomorrow.”
Epilogue
It might have been because of Aron, or because of me—I wasn’t sure, but either way, I was hired on the spot. I had no clue how I was going to manage to do school, work at the restaurant and do three-six graphics a month, but I was determined to make it work.
Aron was thrilled for me, and so were my parents, and Aron’s mom, but it seemed like they were the only ones who were.
The smile faded from my face as I saw Rebecca’s eyes narrow. “How lucky of you.”
“I’m sure your rich little boyfriend had nothing to do with it,” Sarah added in.
I stared at them for a fraction of a second.
“I’m excited for you!” Kim’s voice shocked me. I spun to face her. I hadn’t even realized she’d been listening to me. “That’s got to be such a wonderful experience for you. You work so hard; you deserve it.” Her eyes sparkled as if she loved the look of shock and annoyance on Rebecca and Sarah’s face.
“Thanks,” I stammered.
“Ready to head out?”
“Sure.” I gave Kim a smile before turning back to Sarah and Rebecca. My smile widened. “And FYI, honey, Aron is not little.”
Without another word, I turned on my heel and, along with Kim, headed for the parking lot.
“That was really crappy of them.” Kim said. “You didn’t deserve that.”
“It was just nice having someone stick up for me, thank you.”
Kim shrugged as we came to a stop at the sidewalk. “Anytime.”
“Do you want to chill sometime?” I blurted it out without really thinking about it.
“Maybe sometime, yea. But I’m guessing you’re going to be pretty busy right about now.”
Aron’s Audi pulled into the parking lot.
“I’ll let you know when I have some free time.”
Kim grinned widely. “Sounds cool.” She gave me a nod before heading towards the bus stop.
Aron pulled up beside me. He rolled down the window.
“Hey, you need a ride young lady?” His eyes sparkled.
I lowered myself to look through the window at him. “Depends, I don’t have any gas money to give you.” I grinned as I padded over to the door and opened it.
“I’m sure we can work something else out.” He smiled broadly as I dropped down in the seat and pulled the seat buckle over my shoulder.
“I’ve got a few things in mind already.”
“Funny, so do I.”
He pulled out of the driveway, and as we turned onto the road, I saw Sarah and Rebecca glaring at the car. Aron reached out and put his hand on my thigh, but I was too busy staring at the girl who had been my best friend. I took a deep breath and tried not to focus on it.
Aron’s warm hand against my jeans did make me feel a little better. I closed my eyes, smiling because I knew I wasn’t alone.
I reached out and took his hand, our fingers tangling together.
Rebecca wasn’t interested in being my friend, and that was fine I guess, but at least I had Aron, and maybe Kim.
I couldn’t force Becca to be my friend, and if she was just going to put me down every time she saw me, or try to use me, then it was best we weren’t friends. I had people who supported me, and I was lucky. That much was true.
“You look tired; is everything okay?”
“Just had a long day, that’s all,” I said, not wanting to go into the details quite yet. “I put something in the slow cooker for dinner. It should be ready by the time we get home.”
“Have I told you how wonderful you are recently?”
My cheeks flushed as I opened my eyes and gave Aron a wide smile. “No, but I like hearing it.”
I glanced over at the woman in the seat beside me and my smile widened. She looked beyond tired, and I knew she’d been busting her ass since she got the job with my client. I’d seen the work she was doing, and I was beyond impressed with it. She yawned as she opened her eyes. With one hand still on the steering wheel, I reached into my pocket and felt the small velvet box. It was too soon for an engagement, and I knew that, but this wasn’t an engagement ring, just a small gift to show her I saw how hard she was working. We had a bright future in front of us.
THE END
About the Author
Sarah has been writing since she was 16 years old and has published multiple Amazon bestselling books. No matter if her heroes are Billionaires, Bad Boys or both - she loves to write about hot and sexy alpha males, who are protective and sometimes bossy, as well as the women they crave. Her exciting stories are always steamy, with a lot of twists and turns and a guaranteed HEA that leaves you satisfied after a wild ride - just like it should be in the bedroom, you know?
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THE END
The Deal Page 91